How long has it been since you've had a really good laugh? They say that a day without LAUGHTER is a day wasted. Laugh a little each day...it's better than chicken soup...(at least that's what the chickens say.)

The benefits from laughter are unbelievable...It reduces heart disease...It's a natural pain killer...It helps you lose weight...IT can even give you a good night's sleep and make you look younger by erasing all those frown lines and those bags under your eyes.

Looks like LAUGHTER is the best medicine. A tranquilizer without the side effects !

It relieves the pressures of every day life. It's okay to see the humor in things. Keep laughter in your home. The family that laughs together, stays together !! Leave all your daily stress and problems at your door step. Live joyfully with your loved ones.

Children laugh so freely. A child laughs at least 150 times a day...an adult only three.

I think people just forget to laugh. They've become somber, stressed and worry warts. Get your joy back. Lighten up. Be cheerful. See humor in life. Give your mind a break !! LAUGH more often and be younger, stronger, fresher. Watch something funny before you go to bed...you will sleep better.

Uncle Festus always makes me laugh. He recently told me about a church member who was to be baptized last Sunday at the Lake. He showed up in scuba gear. The pastor said: Well, Ye of little faith, I shall baptize you regardless. I guess Festus got so tickled that he started to laugh. Well, asyou know, everything is funnier when you are not supposed to laugh. LAUGHTER is extremely contagious..thus, the entire congregation joined in.

Trust me, the pastor was having a horrible time trying to suppress all this humor...and finally he gave in and joined the merriment.. Some say it was the best service they had ever attended !

Aunt Martha's doctor tells her: Laughter IS the best medicine, but it's NOT covered in your health plan.

Cousin Clarence also keeps me in stitches. Yesterday he told me that his friend couldn't get rid of those voices in his head. So Clarence got his slingshot and knocked the pet parrot off his friend's shoulder. Voices all gone now....It may not be funny to the parrot..but I did LAUGH.

What do cats call mice on roller skates? Meals on wheels !

Uncle Patrick's neighbor told him: I want to divorce my wife. She hasn't spoken to me in months ! Patrick said: You need to think about it once again...wives like that are hard to find !

The toothbrush says: Sometimes I feel like I have the worst job in the world....The toilet paper said: Yeah....right !

Are you laughing YET? At least cracking a smile? Ohhhh...come on !!!

Aside from finding humor in jokes...my children and animals never stop doing funny things. Festus says that his cats don't like fireworks...so he just lets them hold the sparklers! (Let's just put a cherry bomb in your next sundae, Festus !!)

LAUGHTER is survival. It can help relieve tension in even the heaviest of matters. When I see that JD is upset, I just crack a joke or make a funny remark and he shakes his head and laughs....he needed to LAUGH...and his whole body relaxed with a little spring to his step.

I, myself, have been blessed with an extreme sense of humor. I laugh ALL the time. Without it, I never would have made it through those weeks that I spent in the hospital. Somehow I retained my joyful personality. I was scared and very uncomfortable, but I still found special moments to joke with the nurses and doctors. I remember the 18-year-old housekeeper who always saved my room for last so she could stay longer and chat and LAUGH over the craziest things. I have found that it's not so much WHAT I say, but HOW I say it...that cracks people up. Well, as long as it works for them, it works for me !

To be able to bring LAUGHTER into a room is indeed a blessing. Folks in retirement and nursing homes need to LAUGH more often. Please make it a point to visit your love ones whether they are in these facilities or just live alone in their own home.

Some programs bring animals into visit the elderly and boy, those smiles and laughter are the best medicine around. I have gotten phone calls from ladies in retirement homes who tell me that they really enjoy THE CHAT and can't wait until the Courier arrives each week. Those compliments are greatly appreciated and puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

Victor Hugo wrote: LAUGHTER is the sun that drives winter from the human face.

Have you ever seen something that makes you laugh and the longer you look at it, the funnier it gets?

I know, I know...sometimes we laugh at things that we probably shouldn't. Like: folks slipping on the ice...wind blowing a wig off a person's head and they chase it down the street...someone walking through a spider web and appear waving their arms at something invisible... stepping in a cowpie or doggie do-do and doing the famous shuffle to get rid of it....toilet paper stuck to someone's shoe...a tattoo misspelled...mattresses transported on top of a Volkswagon,..snake in the toilet...blowing out birthday candles that never go out....broken flip flop from someone catching it under ashopping cart...a baby's first taste of a lemon...unexpected bird droppings...geese chasing people in the park...size 2 jeans on a size 22 body......one person walking ten dogs... a facial mask that won't come off...the look on a dog's face who got caught eating the cat food....and on and on and on.

Truth be known...the things that REALLY satisfy us are absolutely FREE: Love, Joy and LAUGHTER.

So, let's sum it up: Be happy ! Shut out stress! Smile! Start LAUGHING more! Have a merry heart! Focus on making others happy! Since LAUGHTER is contagious...let's start our own epidemic !! Free of charge...ALL for the taking!!

Well, I am signing off for now...but trust me, I will be listening for a lot more LAUGHTER out there !!